This current point in time appears to be a watershed period for bands that might be grouped together under the banner of "experimental" music. With the term "indie-rock" slowly becoming synonymous with inoffensive songwriter pop fluff for jaded yuppies, it's rather apt that the next place for connoisseurs hungry for stimulating sounds are bands that operate on the fringes of the so-called independent music world itself. If anything, this new crop of acts proves that not only do captivating yet difficult musicians have the potential to find a healthy audience, but that already established musical idioms, especially the genres of rock and folk, have uncharted territory left in their seemingly exhausted waters.

While on one side we have the "noise" spectrum of experimentation, which elevates harsh, endurance-testing sonics in the realms of rock and electronic musics, there's also been a significant scene in recent years that takes a distinct improvisatory approach to folk and post-classical styles of musical thought. Acts like Wooden Wand And The Vanishing Voice, the No-Neck Blues Band, and A Silver Mt. Zion have approached free-flowing ideas and techniques with an often grim, discomforting glee, making for music that while relatively soothing in its reverberations can still make for an arduous, challenging listen. At its best, such music can be euphorically gorgeous and singular and at worst, just unequivocally boring.

Larsen fall somewhere between the neo-classical, post-rock, and neo-folk strains of the experimental world. While generally unclassifiable, the strains of driving post-rock, Eno-esque ambience, and Godspeed-like melancholy are all discernable. It may be easy to say that Larsen aren't reinventing the wheel when it comes to most recent experimental indie-rock projects, but in a way, their latest album SeieS sounds removed from everything else currently making the rounds; it's as if Larsen produce the kind of music that you imagine in your head, but never quite find materialized in the real world.

My first experience with the mysterious Italian band was through their collaboration with Xiu Xiu from last year under the XXL banner. While that project felt underdeveloped and unable to deliver on its limitless potential, I'm happy to report that it was probably through no fault of either party. SeieS, the band's fifth longplayer, is able to fill all the spaces left too loose on the XXL collaboration with scores of layered cello and viola, electronic haze, guitar, and glockenspiel; the songs the band have crafted on their own sound so much more immediate and optimistic. On tracks like "The Snow" and "Rever," the melodies are relatively unchanging and stagnant, in the vein of most ambient music, but like Eno's best ambient pieces, the emotional execution is too lovely to discount as mere monotony. Elsewhere, songs like "Mother" and "Momi" drift through in a more traditional post-rock manner, but touches like accordion and guest vocals from former Swans member Jarboe add a unique urgency rarely seen in most post-Tortoise imitators. Whenever Larsen feel as if they may lump themselves in the minimalism gutter, a spark of creative perplexity lifts them out.

Larsen only slip up on the final tune "Marzia," which feels uncharacteristically grounded in the brooding guitar-squall sounds better explored by folks like Mogwai. Otherwise, SeieS is all moments of chiming awe, the mixture of organic and electronic brightness swirling about harmoniously. It's an album sure to offer solace for those feeling betrayed by the greater musical world and hoping to sift through countless confusing racks of releases to find that one intriguing vision that clicks.

Some musical ruptures are so penetrating, so incisive that we just can’t help but exclaim EUREKA! While many of our picks here defy categorization and test the boundaries of what exactly discerns ‘music’ from ‘noise,’ others complement or continue anachronistic traditions that have provided new forms and ways of listening. We consider the section a work-in-progress, so expect its definition to be in perpetual flux. Check out the section here.